1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the field of medical technology and in particular concerns the handling of errors or error messages of peripheral apparatuses within a complete system, which are connected with one another via a network.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Medical technology systems today normally are composed of multiple associated apparatuses that are respectively engaged in data exchange with one another via a network such systems, for example, are magnetic resonance tomography systems, computed tomography systems, etc. with peripheral apparatuses (for example injectors, laboratory finding apparatuses, blood pressure measurement apparatuses or additional peripheral apparatuses) arranged in relation to the imaging apparatus. In order to be able to correct for the failure of an apparatus due to the occurrence of an error as quickly as possible, and in order to avoid additional consequential errors in the entire system, it is necessary to take precautions as to how error messages from technical apparatuses are handled. For this purpose, cases must be established for which an error message should appear, as well as the form of the error message and what effects follow therefrom including what additional processes in the network are affected. It should be taken into account that error messages must normally be interpreted depending on context. This means that it is less productive or meaningful when an error message is merely considered by itself. By contrast, it is important for the entire context of the respective apparatus that has caused an error message to be considered. This is particularly important for systems of modular design that have multiple sub-components.
The processing of error messages is not static, but rather is normally subject to change in the course of time. For example, it is frequently the case that an error message that is originally (initially) viewed as very important loses importance with the passage of time, and therefore should no longer be indicated with an emphasized presentation, but rather should require a different, modified processing.
The processing of error messages (in particular the display of error messages) is therefore of particular importance for the entire system, since an error with high priority should also be shown as such and in an emphasized manner in order to trigger fast error handling routines as quickly as possible.
For medical technology peripheral apparatuses that are in use today it is known to process device error messages via a central monitoring software. The monitoring software is typically a component of the system software and is provided as a comprehensive hierarchy across the peripheral apparatuses. Through the processing of the error messages of the peripheral apparatuses at such a centralized level, it is possible to detect the effects of the respective error message on the entire system. However, the disadvantage of this architecture concept is that any changes with regard to the processing of the error messages always entails a detailed change of the system software. In other words, this has the consequence that the entire system software must be adapted every time to a change in the processing of an individual error message of a peripheral apparatus is desired. This leads to errors and also to an unsatisfactory situation since the adaptation of the system software often remains undone, such that the error messages can no longer be processed according to the newest state of the system.